


all the time

by matr3oshka



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, felix is an idol and changbin is a songwriter, i apologise in advance, songwriter!AU, stray kids and 3racha are separate entities, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 03:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16632248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matr3oshka/pseuds/matr3oshka
Summary: felix is the blue-eyed boy of 6-member monster rookie idol group stray kids, and changbin is a songwriter with a head full of dreams and lyrics. naturally, they fall in love.





	all the time

**Author's Note:**

> just something that got stuck in my head and refused to get out in the middle of my exam revision, help. 
> 
> warning!! this fic is basically c/p stray kids + toe-curlingly cliche kdrama tropes with lots of mouthfeel imagery, because changlix has me Feeling Things and im going down the slippery slope that is every skz pairing ever, plus the boys' dynamic is so! very!! precious!!!!
> 
> also i'm a relatively new fan of skz so ;u; if i make any mistakes, do let me know!

The show drags on.

It’s nothing compared to what Changbin’s used to, but being outdoors is making him itch for another cigarette. He stamps out the cold, hands stuffed in his jacket pocket, looking around the deserted carpark, illuminated by the light of the convenience store.

He could get a coffee. _Yeah_ , some caffeine and sugar sounds good, he’s supposed to be working in the studio tonight, anyway. Changbin digs in his pockets for change as he hurries up the steps, inhaling the comforting, pre-packaged smell of the 7-11 as the automatic doors whir open, and he heads for the fridge.

One Americano… _and he’d want a caramel macchiato, wouldn’t he?_ Changbin’s fingers hesitate on the glass, as he thinks. Then-…

_Nope_ , he smirks, opening the fridge to get a can of black coffee, before rounding the front to get a paper cup and slotting some money into the machine for a hot chocolate. _He stays up too much for his own good, anyway_.

He’s cracking open his coffee, inhaling a quarter of it in one go, when the vans _finally_ rumble into the carpark, and, like with every other time, Changbin forgets how widely he’s smiling.

He secures his usual spot in the next building, half lurking behind a wall, as the first van’s door opens, and someone steps down, immediately reaching back to help someone else out.

It's Woojin (right? Fuck, Changbin’s never going to get their names right), the man's tall, imposing figure wrapped up in a dark turtleneck and scarf. He’s murmuring steady advice Changbin can’t hear to a smaller boy (Jeongin, right, Changbin knows the cute one), grinning and chastising him gently when Jeongin stumbles. His ankle must be sprained, or something, because he clings onto Woojin’s shoulder, whining as he lifts one foot off the ground. The J-rock looking boy ( _Minho_ , Changbin hears Woojin laugh) bumps his head on the top of the van on his way out next, clutching it in his hands as he steps down.

Then the other van opens up, and Changbin’s spirits lift. He takes one more step out, without realising it, to get a better look.

The tall, ulzzang-looking one’s the first one out, giggling about something to another boy who looks like he’s just stepped out of a manhwa, complete with a (kind of ridiculous, but he pulls it off) beret balanced on top of his head.

Manhwa boy turns around, relaying Ulzzang boy’s story to someone in the car.

And Felix steps down, blond hair reflecting the headlights like silver, deep laugh rolling out around the darkened, deserted space like melted chocolate.

_Fuck_ , Changbin could listen to that laugh forever.

“And then Hyunjinnie was like, _which in-ear_?” Manhwa boy cracks up – this elicits a laugh from Jeongin. Woojin is talking to someone – their manager, probably. Felix is craning his neck, looking around the carpark.

Their eyes meet in the orange lamplight, and like it’s the first time, Changbin’s heart hop-skips in his chest, a fuzzy happiness starting to float within him like butterflies. He raises a brow, lifting the plastic carrier in his hands with the hot chocolate, and the smile on Felix’s face widens.

“I gotta get something from the store,” Changbin hears him say – his Korean’s improved so _much_ , honestly. “You guys head up first.”

“I want ice cream,” Hyunjin says to Felix, grinning, but Changbin’s too preoccupied to pay attention to the conversation that happens after.

He’s forced to duck back behind the wall like lightning when Woojin turns around at the word _store_. For a moment, the man stares directly in Changbin’s direction, smile gone – it’s too dark here for the guy to actually _see_ , right? He thinks of Felix, gut twisting with unease.

“Hyung, I’ll be up in a minute,” Felix’s low voice carries through even to where Changbin’s crouched. “Want anything?”

Woojin laughs, the sound gentle and slightly chastising, a complete 180 from the stare he’d just sent this way. “Just come up soon. Stay safe, okay?”

The voices eventually fade, and the vans drive off, leaving just the sound of Felix’s footsteps, purposefully slow.

Changbin melts out of the shadows, then, unable to hold back a smile. “Hey stranger.”

Felix grins, blond hair falling into his face and jacket sleeves fluttering in the night wind as he closes the distance between them. Bathed in the glow of a streetlight, his eyes sparkle like diamonds.

“Hey.”

*

They’re behind the 7-11, a secluded spot with plastic tables and chairs that’s just dark enough to be comfortable. Felix has his hood up, fingers barely poking out from his black sleeves to curl around his cup of hot chocolate. He takes tiny sips between sentences, like the company had taught him to when he had to lose 3 kilos for a profile photoshoot. His teeth, professionally straightened and whitened, flash like a camera, every time he smiles.

“…and we had _four_ encores, hyung, I mean, it’s a guerrilla street performance, who are we to say no, right?” He waves animatedly while he talks – the fact that he’s accidentally hit the umbrella pole three times so far hasn’t fazed him in the slightest. “And they were screaming, _STRAY KIDS, STRAY KIDS_ , so we went out and did a couple songs, what were they, the one about school-…”

“School Life,” Changbin inserts, with a half-smile. He’d know, of course.

“That one,” Felix points at him, winking, eliciting an eyeroll. “And it was so _nice_ seeing the rest so excited, you know?” He leans back in his chair, hands tucked in his hoodie pockets, with a satisfied sigh. “And it’s just the beginning. Wait till our first concert at _Tokyo Dome,_ hyung _._ ”

It’s so _easy_ , talking to Felix, every time they meet. The younger boy is full of stories and funny impressions, and there’s something about his eyes, something that reaches out to you when he’s speaking like you’re the most important person in the world at that very moment, and he cares so very much about what you think of his latest story. All in all, a very important skillset for an idol. But Changbin tries not to think about that.

“You guys just debuted a couple of _months_ ago,” he tips the dregs of his coffee into his mouth, teeth dragging on the metal edge, with a lazy grin. “Getting a little excited, don’t you think?”

“For that,” the edge of Felix’s lips turns upwards, in a dangerous smile that has Changbin more than a _little_ out of breath. “I’m downgrading you to a Cat 2 seat, no hi-touch or VIP backstage pass.”

“Oh man,” Changbin clutches his chest, grimacing. “Guess I can’t see my favourite member of Stray Kids in person, the light of my life, the one who makes my heart melt, the most beautiful boy in the world,” he pauses, just long enough for Felix to beam smugly. “-Yang Jeongin.”

It’s _gold_ , the way Felix’s face falls. Changbin cracks up, raspy laugh breaking the sleepy silence.

“I should’ve never introduced you to him,” Felix grumbles into his cup. “Both of you are going to be the death of me.”

Changbin feels his gut sinking slightly, at that. He thinks about the events of tonight, wondering if he should bring it up at all. “Hey.”

Felix is distracted, trying to bite the mouthpiece of the hot chocolate cup. “Hello.”

“I think,” he bites his lip, knowing this is going to ruin the moment, already precious and rare as it is. “I don’t know if your leader saw me tonight. I was behind the wall,” he says hastily, already regretting mentioning this as Felix’s face turns to stone. “In the dark. I don’t think so, but the way he spoke to you…he suspects something, doesn’t he?”

The younger boy is toying with his phone, looking discouraged. “I don’t know. Woojin-hyung really cares about the group…but if he knows about us, he hasn’t brought it up yet.”

“I feel like,” Changbin holds his breath, trying to start strong. “You should talk to him. _At least_ to him, if not the others.”

But he knows from the look on Felix’s face that the younger boy has already shut him off. “And force him to make us break up? Our dating ban’s not over for another two _years_ , hyung. I mean, _you_ can date whoever you want, it’s just,” he gestures in frustration, running a hand through his hair, only to pull his hood over his face again. “Sorry. Sorry it’s like this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Changbin says quietly. Their meetings are ending up like this more and more, he realises. “Sorry I brought it up.”

There’s silence between them for a while, until Felix takes a deep breath, pulling on a smile with disarming ease.

“You got a lot to settle tonight?”

“Chasing me away so soon?” Changbin smiles, albeit a little wearily. “It’s not easy, escaping Chan to get here, you know.”

“I didn’t _mean_ that,” the younger boy pouts, clearly glad for the change of topic. “You’re always pulling all-nighters, hyung, it’s awful for your health!”

“Look who’s talking,” the rapper raises a brow, standing and taking his empty coffee can. “Mr I-practiced-a-routine-for-a-whole-night. You’d better sleep _right after_ you get back later, none of your Overwatch nonsense.”

Felix whines all the way back. They dawdle through buying ice cream for the kids in the dorm, and more coffee for the guys in the studio, and walk extra slow back to the dorms, bickering all the way.

“Well, it paid off, didn’t it?” Felix argues, before striking a pose. “Stray Kids did well tonight!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Changbin reaches over to pat the younger boy’s butt to appease him. “You did well. The song choices were great.”

Felix grins at this, shouldering Changbin. “They would be, wouldn’t they? When they had such talented, _amazing_ writers?”

Changbin mocks a thinking pose. “Better thank Chan when I get back tonight, then.”

Then the younger boy stuns him, by pulling him into a quick hug that’s over as fast as it’d come. He’s smiling, a true, genuine smile, not the ones he pulls on for the magazine spreads and album photoshoots that Changbin carefully sets aside and keeps away in a file, each with their own annotations. “ _Your_ songs as much as 3RACHA’s, Binnie-hyung. You’re an _amazing_ songwriter.”

Heat rises in Changbin’s face before he can clamp it down, throat freezing up as he scrambles for something to say. Felix is always so _honest_ when he’s like this, free from makeup and cameras and wrapped up in the safety of the night, like a flower that blooms only in the moon.

“You’re an great idol, Felix,” he mumbles, smiling. “You’re going to get that Tokyo Dome concert. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Sleep early tonight,” the younger boy grins as he turns into the lift lobby, waving. “Don’t stay up or you’ll get wrinkles!”

Changbin scoffs, then, hefting his plastic bag of coffee and starting on the long walk back to the studios.

*

Chan is hunched over his laptop, head bobbing to an inaudible beat in his earbuds when Changbin walks back in.

“One Americano, black like your soul, coming right up hyung,” the rapper singsongs, placing the chilled can beside the laptop. Chan takes out an earbud, inhaling, and Changbin can feel the lecture _hit_ him before he even turns around.

“Jisung’s not going to be happy you went back there tonight,” is all he says. Changbin cracks open his own coffee, feigning ignorance.

“We banning convenience stores, now?”

“ _Changbin_ ,” Chan hasn’t touched the coffee, still watching him reproachfully. “That guy’s an _idol_. We’re just here to make their cheesy pop tunes and then get back to our work. _Right_?”

“Who says I went to visit him tonight?” Changbin grumbles, sinking down in the beanbag, taking out his phone. _Of course Chan would pick up on where I went tonight…_

“We just don’t want you to get into trouble,” 3RACHA’s unofficial leader says quietly. “Especially not with our main source of income. The mixtape’s _almost done_ , we need all our heads here. _Present_ ,” he adds the last word a little more firmly.

“Okay, okay,” Changbin relents. “He’s busy too, anyway,” he scoffs, here, looking down. “Like you said, he’s an idol, hyung, it’s not like he’s got a lot of time to spend with me anyway. I’ll be here with the rest of you losers, don’t you worry.”

Chan grins at this, standing and walking over, before sitting with a thump on the beanbag, deliberately almost bouncing Changbin off the other side. He wraps an arm around Changbin’s neck, dragging him down for a halfhearted noogie. “You know I’m just worried about you, right, brat?’

“Ow, _ow_ , hyung,” the rapper’s wheezing, wriggling away while trying not to spill his coffee. “I get it, hyung, I’m stuck here with your ugly ass-…”

“Are we bullying Changbin-hyung?” Jisung strolls in, eyes lighting up. “Can I sit on him?”

He doesn’t wait for permission, just plops right down, and they’re a mess of swear words and awkward limbs until Changbin finally manages to wriggle free from Chan to push Jisung off.

“Where were you, anyway?” The maknae of 3RACHA finally wheezes out, still laughing. “I wrote some new lyrics I wanted run by you, hyung, I was looking for you everywhere!”

Chan sends a _look_ at Changbin, only to be ignored. “Got you a coffee,” he points to the remaining can on the table, and Jisung crows in victory, previous topic forgotten. “Now what were you saying about those lyrics?”

The leader is left alone as the other two thunder out, reduced to sighing to himself before standing to get back to his work, reaching to open the can of coffee and take a swig.

  _This night couldn't pass any slower._

 

**Author's Note:**

> big hugs to all comments and kudos! would really appreciate them ;u;


End file.
